Charles Thomson

Jailed: South Essex man strangled woman as she begged him to delete 'intimate' videos Jimmy Whiteman was jailed after Basildon Crown Court heard he throttled his ex-partner as she begged him to delete 'intimate videos'.

A domestic abuser from Wickford, Essex, has been jailed after strangling a woman and threatening to kill her, as she begged him to delete ‘intimate videos’ he was threatening to leak onto the internet.

www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2584717...

XL Bully attack left 'chunks of flesh' on pavement in south Essex Danny Dodge, from Tilbury, was sentenced at Basildon Crown Court over a 'sustained' XL Bully attack in Thurrock

A south Essex man has walked free after his XL Bully mauled a woman & her pet dog in an attack that left ‘chunks of flesh’ on the pavement.

Danny Dodge, whose victim is unable to work due to her injuries, got a community order & 120 hours of unpaid work.

www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2584500...

Presumably they’ll be announcing billions in additional funding to hire the many thousands of extra police officers that would be required to meet these targets.

How 'the stench of death' hung over fraudulent south Essex dog rehoming charity In May 2025, Essex Police, Basildon Council and the RSPCA found dozens of dead dogs at a Billericay property. Here's how the grisly story unfolded.

One heartbroken victim said the 'stench of death' hung over the property.

Here's how the grisly story unfolded after police raided it last May.

www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2575820...

'Still more missing dogs', campaigners say as south Essex man admits animal cruelty Campaigners say they have “more work to do” after a Billericay man pleaded guilty to 12 criminal charges over a fraudulent south Essex kennel…

A man has pleaded guilty to running a fraudulent dog rehoming charity, after the remains of 41 dogs were found on his property in Essex.

But campaigners say even more dogs are still missing.

www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2575774...

Ellison and the Lie As Larry Ellison’s media empire expands, unanswered questions about his views on the 2020 election now carry real stakes as Jan. 6 is reframed and the next presidential race approaches.

After the 2020 election, Larry Ellison joined a call to strategize on overturning the vote for Trump and donated to election deniers. Now he controls CBS and wants CNN’s parent, raising new questions this week as his influence grows.

My latest in @status.news www.status.news/p/larry-elli...

Woman from south Essex walks free despite threat to feed ex's dad's corpse to pigs Lilly May Burns, from Canvey, subjected her boyfriend to a campaign of 'nasty, reprehensible' domestic abuse, including burns, bites and death…

An Essex domestic abuser who subjected her partner to bites, punches, burns and strangulation, tried to set his home on fire, and controlled him with threats to falsely accuse him of rape and paedophilia, has walked free from Basildon Crown Court.

www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2575439...

I generally think reporters at outlets like the Mail need some leeway: especially early career people need jobs and experience, so have to work places they might not want to.

But genuinely, I’d quit my job rather than have my byline appear next to that headline. Surely any decent person would.

Correct. Reporters do need to be paid to go to work. All businesses would struggle to pay staff if they gave all their products away for nothing. Our subscriptions are pretty cheap - £6 for the first six months at the moment.

This year I served on my first jury for a murder trial.
It cemented in me the value of being judged by your peers. The generally public school educated, at least middle class, judiciary cannot be expected to be the sole arbiter of what's right for everyday people.

What are the true causes of the court backlog? Here's our Essex court reporter's view The Labour government wants many trials held by judges instead of juries. Echo court reporter Charles Thomson says it is a lazy, hypocritical…

Labour's plot to axe many jury trials is lazy, abusive & hypocritical.

Here are the REAL causes of the court backlog.

My reporter's-eye view, featuring tweets from @barristersecret.bsky.social, @joannahs.bsky.social and, of course, David Lammy.

www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2569400...

'Smirking' paedophile jailed for abusing children across Basildon and Southend Paul Coffey, sentenced for historic child sex offences in Basildon and Southend, blamed his crimes against children on a 'sexless marriage'.

An Essex paedophile has been jailed after telling the probation service he had to abuse children because his wife was refusing him sex.

Paul Coffey, a retired banking contractor from Southend, showed no hint of guilt or remorse, Basildon Crown Court heard.

www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2569088...

Basildon drug dealer tells jury he 'killed man in self-defence after hammer threat' Drug dealer Codey Nolan has told a murder jury at Basildon Crown Court that he killed Vange man Hassan Bousanguar because he threatened to rape his…

An Essex drug dealer has told a murder jury his testimony in a previous trial was 'a pack of lies', but insisted he is now telling the truth.

Codey Nolan is accused of kicking and stamping to death Hassan Bousanguar above a Basildon shopping parade.

www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2568097...

Drug dealer denies kicking 'lovely character' to death in Basildon murder trial Codey Nolan is on trial at Basildon Crown Court, accused of kicking to death 'lovely' local man Hassan Bousanguar.

Essex drug dealer Codey Nolan has gone on trial for murder, accused of kicking Hassan Bousanguar to death in a block of flats above a Basildon shopping parade.

My report from the courtroom:

www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2566637...

Developer suing Essex Police in part to highlight 'gender bias', trial hears A LEIGH man is suing Essex Police in part to highlight “gender bias in the system”, his lawyer has told jurors

A man is suing Essex Police in part to highlight 'gender bias' in domestic violence cases, a jury has heard.

Mel Pilgrim says he was the real victim, but police failed to prosecute his wife and trumped up charges against him.

The trial began yesterday.

www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2566395...

'A terrible idea': Can scrapping jury trials really fix Essex's court backlog? The Echo spoke asked experts about a leaked Labour proposal to scrap jury trials in all but the most serious cases. Can it really fix Essex's court…

A leaked government document proposes scrapping jury trials in the name of expediency, after persistent justice system budget cuts created a years-long trial backlog.

But is axing juries really the answer?

I spoke to Essex lawyers and national experts.

www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2565799...

This is the most alarming story I’ve read today. Giving up the fight before it’s started

“I bought this house when it was only 300k and now it’s worth 2m, why should I have to leave because I can’t afford a tax???” - so you’re saying you’ve made over a million quid in profit off a house just by it existing and you’re now complaining that’s getting taxed a bit

All of this “woe is me my house is now really expensive and so a tax is unfair” stuff completely negates to acknowledge the implicit fact that the house owner has made an insane profit by doing absolutely nothing

BBC board member with Tory links ‘led charge’ in systemic bias claims, say insiders Sources say Robbie Gibb amplified criticisms of Trump, Gaza and trans rights coverage, and had ‘a lot of oxygen in the room’

Well, this is quite a serious allegation. I do hope the BBC shows true impartiality and investigate whether or not some of its Board members are systemically biased. www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...

What a coincidence that Fleet Street’s pathetic histrionics over the BBC’s horrifying decision to, er, play Donald Trump’s own words, has killed any discussion that might have followed the devastating ‘The Real Hack’ documentary on ITV last night, exposing rampant national newspaper criminality.

Be clear, the American far right are coming for British democracy.

The driver "managed to contact the control centre at Network Rail and get the train diverted onto the slow line", Calder says. "That was absolutely crucial because this train was scheduled to be travelling through Huntingdon station on the tracks with no platform at 125mph." "It didn't stop in the middle of nowhere, which would have been very difficult." Calder thinks this was handled in the "safest possible way" thanks to the "incredible professionalism from the driver and the police". Train drivers are trained on how to take appropriate action, he adds,

Next time someone tells you that train drivers "just push buttons" show them this from the BBC

21-year-old from Basildon spared jail as judge criticises vigilante paedophile hunter Dante Dilliway received a suspended sentence after admitting trying to meet an underage girl in Gloucester Park.

An Essex man walked free on a suspended sentence as a judge criticised the vigilante paedophile hunter behind his arrest.

The vigilante targeted a man with ‘significant’ mental health issues & persisted in pestering him to meet after he repeatedly declined.

www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2558796...

Reform UK, the Russian spy and rolls of Kremlin cash: the inside story of Nathan Gill How did a former Mormon bishop end up pleading guilty to taking bribes to make statements in favour of Russia in the European parliament?

Reform UK, the Russian spy & rolls of Kremlin cash: the inside story of Nathan Gill

www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
By me, @lukeharding1968.bsky.social
@peterwalker99.bsky.social
& Artem Mazhulin

The clear thread running through Goodwin's career is the drive to imbue his creepy fixation on immigration with the legitimising authority of supposed mass support. Here, audience members have disqualified themselves from the category of "the people" in his eyes by virtue of disagreeing with him.

100 per cent this ⬇️

Drunk south Essex woman bit and spat at police officers after crashing into wall Henrietta Oyibo, from Grays, drunkenly crashed her car into a wall, then bit and spat on Essex Police officers sent to arrest her.

Henrietta Oyibo was still on bail after drunkenly crashing her car and assaulting officers two-and-a-half years earlier.

The incident at Grays police station erupted after she was wrongly accused of breaching her bail.

www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2557798...

Judge slams behaviour of 'hostile and heavy-handed' cops towards south Essex woman A Basildon judge has condemned Essex Police officers’ treatment of a black woman from Grays, after she was wrongly accused of breaching bail.

EXCLUSIVE: Essex Police has launched a standards investigation after a judge condemned officers' 'hostile, heavy-handed' treatment of a black woman in Grays police station.

Two male officers punched her in the face and one of them called her a c***.

www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2558009...

This is a really important piece